Fly Past
by avalon2000
Summary: Where the world of Hogwarts meets us, headon. So far we have dragons, million dollar fighter planes, submarines and running battles with covert operations troopers. Want more?....
1. Chapter 1

Fly Past –by avalon2000

Where the world of Hogwarts meets us head-on.

The clouds lay below as a milky white sea, or the top of a fresh cup of hot-milk and honey, rolling and boiling. Above, all was still and black in this clear divide between states, pinpointed by the heavens great dot-to-dot book. Beneath the clouds a storm raged, the only signs above being areas of additional froth and flashes of electric blue illuminating through. Showing the passage of charged energy to ground.

Within their Plexiglas cockpit of a multi-million pound Eurofighter typhoon, two pilots observed the skies, above and below, noting its effect on their communications systems and instruments. Cruising at an altitude of 35,000 feet the sleek grey craft banked and swooped with easy grace under the hands of the young Flt Lieutenant pilot, her consummate skill, a mere fraction of the older man in the rear seat, her tutor taking the second man chair.

"Right then" began the older man, "Listen to me … my young apprentice" 

That always made Susan smile.

"Today's mission is a simple reconnaissance exercise."

"Simple sir?" Susan knew there must be more to it than that.

"Well sort of simple. The basics involve dipping momentarily below the cloud line passing along the valley to return to this level and then report observations"

"I see Sir, you want me to observe at speeds of 250mph, whilst dodging unfamiliar terrain, in poor weather conditions"

"As I said" he smiled, " Simple".

Susan programmed the nose camera and brought the jet around for its first pass.

"And remember" her tutor added, "For the purposes of this exercise, we carry no on-board mapping of this terrain, the visibility is next to zero, there is increased electrical activity in the cloud base, and the mountainous terrain below, is knitted together with valleys and peaks in an insane maze."

"I say this" he continued, "To warn you to be very sure of your surroundings and alert for surprises, because…"

"Because we are not at home to Mr Cock-up" Susan replied and they both laughed at this familiar banter.

The controls felt easy under her fingers as Susan banked the fighter down into the clouds; she felt the added tension on the stick as the calm above the clouds was replaced by the thicker texture of the air and the turbulence below. She felt the new forces fighting her for control of the plane, and she had to apply more pressure to achieve her desired actions. The cloud line did not stop at the mountain peaks it merely thinned as she flew though the torrential rain, ducking and swooping through valleys. The first pass was completed quickly and the jet returned to its holding pattern above the clouds. 

"Nicely done, so what did we observe?" Her tutor enquired. 

"Its raining Sir"

"Oh very funny, that's a fail"

"Raining all along that 2 mile valley of basic chalkstone and granite build-up, probably left over from the receding ice sheets of 2 million years ago. There was a stone circle on Peak K14, and two cut valleys on the right wall. There was a step back lake on the left wall with a castle at the far end, by the illumination, it seemed occupied."

"All very good," commended her Tutor, except of course for that fairy story about the castle, a nice twist, the student testing the tutor, but I have just re-scanned the nose camera and there is no castle." 

"I beg to differ" Susan began; she knew she had seen it, but now as she checked her own camera records, the tinge of doubt crawled in. 

"Sir, I am sure my observation is correct, permission to repeat run"

"I am also intrigued, and agree, it would be perfectly acceptable, but I will have to mark you down should it prove to be a miss-sighting"

"I understand Sir"

Again the sleek silver dart powered under the cloud layer, the rain had thinned but visibility was still poor. Hugging the left wall Susan kept the craft side tilted to allow for maximum observation of the crevices and valleys that branched off.

"ZZzt. Crackle" the Comms noise began in her headset, "… No lake on the left wall my young apprentice"

"zztt that's a roger Sir, but I know the reason, its now over there on the right.."

Susan banked and turned almost holding the craft at a hover. The lake was there, and a mirror image of her first observation. The Castle spreading across the foot of a mountain at the other end. Susan checked her nose camera records again; it certainly wasn't there last time. She knew her tutor would be doing the same.

"Well"

"Indeed Sir"

"I would suggest a short recon"

"Through those woods on the right sir?"

"Good idea… make it so" both expressed nervous laughter.

Susan took the grey fighter skimming over the treetops, hard against the canyon wall. Almost at once a much larger shadow began trailing them, their two shadows as if a Pike chasing a skilled fisherman's fly. 

"We're being followed – " Susan began to report when a large ball of flame exploded a treetop just ahead, She banked the jet through the firestorm and began scanning.

"M'aidez, M'aidez this is LGAT one, we are under attack repeat under fire from unknown hostile" Her Tutor was already reporting into the comms. "All I'm getting back is static," he informed her; "We are on our own".

"I can't get a positive ID Sir"

"I know, all I get from rear-dar is it is BIG"

All the while the nippy little fighter swooped and dodged, its ever-present shadow closing behind. Susan took the craft down between two large trees, akin to Redwoods in scale. Both exploded in hot fire as she passed between, Her pursuer still a shadow passing through the flames.

"Want guns Sir"

"Sorry training mission, no armaments"

Tucking the craft under an overhang Susan rolled the plane and spun out and up, aiming for altitude. Suddenly the fragile jet lurched sideways before resuming its skyward climb.

"We're Hit Sir, main tail aileron not responding, massive fuel loss as well, ."

"Functional?"

"Just Sir, I can hold it" Her tutor didn't argue, he was well aware of his trainee's skills under pressure.

Two more fireballs skimmed left and right of the craft.

Suddenly the Eurofighter was enveloped in a sparkling white bubble. 

"Controls responding Sir"

"ZZtt Crackle"

"Sir"

_"zztt..Crk Crk..Norbert, you get back 'ere roight now" _

"Sir"

"I read you pilot, that wasn't me"

"The attack seems to have stopped sir, what is it?"

"Well if I was a sensible man looking for a reasonable explanation, I would say this is a sort of St Elmo's fire effect, or Ball lighting."

"I see Sir, couldn't be anything else really"

The Jet limped above the clouds and sped eastwards towards the sea. Finally making Safe Haven on deck of The HMS Ark Royal Aircraft carrier.

On the Deck a small group had gathered around the returning plane. 

"Glad we were able to give you Brylcream boys a taxi home." Spoke the Ships Captain as he and the two pilots and a couple of the ships engineers checked over what was beginning to look like several million pounds worth of scrap iron.

"Much appreciated Commander Kerr" Acknowledged the Tutor, not rising to the bait, grateful for a secure landing at the limit of their reduced fuel time.

"So…" But Susan had no words to complete her sentence; just looking at the long deep gouges and charred shredded metal along the rear of the fighter spoke volumes.


	2. Chapter 2

Fly Past – Chapter 2

Later that night down in Lower Hanger 4, Flt Lieutenant Susan sat on an Oil drum in the secluded section, and surveyed the wrecked tail-end of her beloved Euro-Fighter Typhoon.

This did not resemble any shell damage she was familiar with, and after her many years in Weapons Control and Development, there were very few that could argue.

Susan had come late to fighter combat, seeing others of her induction serving in theatres of combat across the world, while she concentrated on Weaponry. Then developments in Optical surgery meant she could overcome the ancient restrictions preventing her taking to the Skies in these multi-million dollar machines and finally accelerate through the ranks to catch up with her friends.

"Penny for them" Commander Kerr stepped up behind her

Yes even her younger brother had gained a rank higher than that which she held now.

"Just trying to put the pieces together" Susan replied without turning around.

"Well it's a big enough puzzle", "What you should be doing is resting, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow, all the fun of the fair at your Court-martial ha-ha"

Susan knew he was just ribbing her; it was only going to be an informal review and de-brief.

"I suppose you're right and yet…" Susan stood up; she felt something, some awkward vibrations through the deck "wait that's not right"

"Hmm" Kerr stamped his boot on the deck, its steel lined soles making a loud clang.

"Just engine noise" and hew turned and marched off, with the parting words, "Get some sleep".

Susan walked the outer gallery, the fresh salt air blasting across her as she left the Hanger and closed the door behind her. At the rail was her tutor, and co-pilot of yesterday. Also hopefully her defence if tomorrow's meeting did turn nasty. She took the rail next to him, watching the slow movement of the waves, and in the distance the dark rising of the coast that held her mysterious valley and protagonist.

"Penny for them" her tutor asked.

"At this rate" Susan replied "I should soon be able to pay-off the repairs bill"

"It won't be a problem" he re-assured, "I was senior. At the end-of the day it will be my pension the costs come out of".

Susan appreciated his light humour, and hoped for both their sakes, that bureaucracy wouldn't take…wait there it was again, that strange vibration. Then nothing, she just turned to speak when out of the corner of her eye Susan thought she saw something in the deep, a wake or deeper darkness within the water.

"Sir"

"No"

"I didn't ask anything" Susan replied

"You did, you said Sir, which in Susan speak is _'I think I'm going to do something that may break one or maybe several rules, will involve weaponry and or possibly the theft of a plane, and would you be ever so kind as to help me, and then cover for me when it all goes wrong'_ ".

"You got that from Sir?"

"Yep, and the fact I know your file quite well"

"Well you're wrong Sir I wasn't thinking of stealing a plane"

"No?"

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of a helicopter. They have some particularly well-equipped egg beaters on board this tub"

The Valley lay below, free from rain but still mist shrouded, Susan kept high for the moment, observing and noting items of interest, like before the Lake seemed to have switched location again, and this time she saw a winding rail track un-observed on her first visit. A slow pass over the lake did not bring any unwanted attentions, no attacks or surprises. Susan felt a slight twinge of disappointment the previous high of combat and near death experience not yet fully subsided, but maintained a professional detached demeanour. As she turned to make a second sweep, and while composing in her head excuses ready for return to the ship. Susan spotted the ripple on the water. A small disturbance on the lake's surface, heading straight towards the distant Castle. What appeared to be a mast began to rise, breaking the waves.

Suddenly Susan felt she knew what this was, strange images filled her head, Winged horses and an ornately carved wooden Galleon. She fully expected to see Masts and rigging follow up out of the water, but that was madness it couldn't be.

Soon she realised it wasn't, as Breaking the Surface following the short mast, came the dull rectangular shape of a coning tower, followed swiftly by the large

Fat cigar shape of the Submarines Hull. In an instant hatches popped on the deck and three teams of wetsuit clad men scrambled out, launched inflatable surface craft and sped off to the bank where the strangely twisted woods met the Lakes edge.


	3. Chapter 3

Fly Past Chapter 3

Team Leader 1 silently signalled his squad of marines to proceed up the back and head for cover on the lower side of the Granite ridge he had spotted as his black painted inflatable beached. His two following squads were instructed to go higher.

3 men would be left in cover to guard the boats for any accelerated return to the Sub.

The undergrowth was deep with many entangling roots, some seem to move even as they stepped through them. However they had been briefed fully and this was likely to be the least of their problems. Team leader 1 concentrated through his night vision goggles, selected a route and proceeded forward. He thought to himself, that as dangerous as their target was, Team 2 could actually face more intense opposition; He couldn't shake the fear that not matter how covert they had been, someone was watching them.

Some one was watching them.

Above the woods, protected from sight by the dense growth, and also the Helicopters 'Stealth-Mode' Rotors, Flt-Lieut Susan scanned the ground. "Now what do you suppose these guys are up to? Bit late for camp songs and marshmallows"

Inside she was concerned; this looked like a long thought-out well planned mission. A submarine running in the Shadow of an Aircraft carrier, supposedly on a distress call. Damn, I've been reading too many mystery stories. She needed someone to talk to and her co-pilot was currently running interference back at the Carrier.

"Missing helicopters you say, Hmm, haven't seen any round here, by the way just because they call it a Mess doesn't mean it has to be". – Yes Susan knew she would be covered by a full-on, fists at 10 paces, diversion.

What are they after?

Team Leader 1 felt a shift in the air and dived to the right just as a flaming ball of intense heat seared the ground he had just stepped on, and incinerated one of his men.

The squad acted on instinct and many years close quarter training, some gave covering fire, others scouted cover positions, then they gave fire for the others to get into their cover. Strangely enough it was their leader who was left to his own devices. Team Leader 1 didn't reach that position lightly; a few barked commands and he had the second squad bearing down from their high ground, third squad were to hold a retreat position.

Then their target came barrelling out of the woods. An unforgettable bulk of talons and horns, a great lizard shape, bigger than a bus. Oh and it breathed fire as well.

Susan immediately had all groups entered into her targeting computer, but the question was what was going on? She really needed that friendly word, time to break radio silence; she paused momentarily then switched the ICnet back on

"_..at once. Message repeat, to the un-named pilot who –"_

Susan cut in, "I'm not un-named this is LGAT1, I am transmitting my I-dent codes now, patch me through to Commander Kerr's cabin now please."

"_The only person you will be talking to is the Master-at Arms"_ A rather testy voice from the carrier replied

"I am sure Commander – " Susan began

"_The Commanders orders madam"_

"Pretty please…?"

Team Leader 2 acknowledged that contact had been made by team 1 and continued up the staircase. His group consisted of only 5 Marines, but they were easily worth 3 three squads. Already men 2 and 4 awaited his signal, perched outside an ornately glazed window, held against the high stonework by the slenderest of steel spikes in the mortar. 3 and 5 had taken a different route in, after their motorised submersible had beached, now they controlled a doorway directly opposite the side of the room he was about to enter.

Time to proceed, as he raised his boot to the door, Team Leader 2 smiled and remembered his favourite TV line "Stoke me a Flipper"

A slim comms phone began to ring on Commander Kerr's desk.

Susan lowered the chopper, it was a risk but maybe if the ground teams could see her, someone may get in contact. She easily analysed their entrenched position. The Fire-Lizard thing, _"okay call it a Dragon"_ Susan corrected herself was advancing to the waters edge, cutting off the first group to be attacked. Susan sent a line of tracer fire across the front of their position, heads turned up.

Inside the small Library room a group of six targets gathered, they began to run away from his door as team Leader 2 and the two 'window washers' entered with a hail of splintering wood and broken glass. Their flight was halted by the crash and entering of 2 men from the opposite door. One of the targets proceeded forward, a tousle haired boy with glasses, his arm raised holding a stick. But man 4 passed left as Man 2 brought his assault weapon around in an unorthodox but effective clubbing motion.

"My sticks bigger than yours" he growled, as the youth scrambled across the floor to reach his cracked glasses. The boy put them on just in time to see Team Leader 2's weapon come forward and press it's barrel into his forehead.

"Well?" The voice although brief was welcome and familiar to Susan's ears.

"Kerr, look there's something going on here"

"You mean apart from all these security reports of stolen armaments, blatant code violations, and insults about our cooking, Oh and the theft of a Helicopter. That is piling up my desk"

"Er Yes."

"Susan, how bad is it?"

"Same as always"

"Oh, That bad".

"Look there is some action going on down here that you may not even know about…" but Susan's communications were cut short, either the line was down or being jammed.

Team Leader 1 tapped the side of his helmet to disconnect the ship-to-shore feed,

"Oh I know alright". He sent a short flash light signal to the woods behind the dragon. Squad 2 launched their rocket controlled razor nets. Fire breather it may be but its skin would still be cut by weapons that could slice a tank in half. The Dragon was down.

The tableau in the library seemed still forever, but it was just seconds before it all became madness. Team Leader 2 was staring deep into the eyes of the tousle haired boy, his barrel pressing hard against an older scar on the lads forehead. The youth seemed to be daring him, or was it something else. A flicker on the right, Team leader two reacted as a primal beast, drawing and firing two shots behind him from his hip holster. Without looking behind he got confirmation of the kill from his men in front of him. 2 shots and some blond haired, thin faced boy was down.

"_Malf – "_ began a scream.

Almost immediately two other youths moved, a tom-boy looking girl to his left and another boy, ginger with freckles, on his right, for a moment it was like some macabre dance. These 2 new protagonists waving their arms as if throwing invisible snowballs at Team Leader 2. He felt nothing for a moment, and was about to laugh and pull the trigger on the weapon held against the boy with glasses head. When suddenly he felt it all, his whole body burning from the inside.


End file.
